Lucky Robin's Personal Finance Blog

I raised the grocery budget this week just because we are going down to the farm on Saturday and I will be buying ground beef and bacon. I may not have actually needed to do that as I won't be buying much meat this week otherwise, but if I don't spend it I will put it back in the checking account.

I also bumped the medical fund up to $500 as we had a bill come in that we were starting to think would never arrive. It was from October. I don't think I will need to repeat that next payday, though.

$327.36 Tithe
_400.00 Utilities
_500.00 Grocery Envelope
_500.00 Medical Fund
__75.00 Household Fund
_108.91 Internet
__36.00 Garbage Fund (every 2 month bill)
_100.00 Car Insurance Fund
__50.00 Car Maintenance Envelope
_100.00 Gas Money
_100.00 Blow Money Adults
_105.00 Allowances
_100.00 Clothing Envelope
_100.00 Computer Fund
_500.00 Monster Mom Loan Payment
-----------
3102.27 Total Money Out

$20,200.00 Balance Forward
-__,500.00 Loan Payment
------------
$19,700.00 New Balance

It is so nice to finally see a 1 starting the remaining loan balance. I had hoped to pay $700 this payday, but had an unexpected doctor's bill turn up, so that didn't happen.

DH had to pick up some pure maple syrup at Costco last night, so that cost $11.59. That seems to have gone down a good bit since the last time we bought syrup. I think it was around $15 last time, so that was a nice surprise.

The last two days were kind of painful. I think it was the storm. I am sensitive to changes in barometric pressure. I swell up when rainstorms come in. I also get headaches. It's weird. But the sun is back out today and also last night was my second shot of Enbrel and my joints are feeling better again, except my left hip, which is out and my chiropractor is on vacation. He won't be back until the 10th.

It is possible that I may be someone who has to take two shots of Enbrel a week, but I imagine it is too soon to tell. But the joint flare could also have been the medicine wearing off. I don't know. It's too soon to tell on that as well. No nausea or vomiting with this second shot, but I took some Zantac last night to try to prevent it, and it seems like it did.

Tomorrow we have another rain storm coming in, so if my joints hurt again, then I'll assume it was the pressure and not the medicine wearing off, since I just took the shot.

I have been maintaining my weight loss, but have not been very good at losing anymore. I haven't really been trying this week, but I need to get my act together, because I still have a lot to lose. We are going to get our gym membership signed up for this weekend and I can get back in the pool again. I am going to take it easy and only walk in the pool to start, not try to swim laps or use the water weights. I need to build up my stamina. Then maybe after a week or so, I might take a class.

They have Aqua Zumba one day a week and water aerobics the rest of the week days and Saturday. I will start with Aqua Zumba as it is easier on the joints and more fun. I will have to get up earlier for the water aerobics if I decide to start that, but Aqua Zumba is at 10:30. They do have two night time water aerobics classes if I just can't get up early enough. But they are at 6 p.m. and I imagine quite crowded at that time of day.

DS will be using the work out machines and weights while I am in the pool. He isn't really keen on water aerobics, though he did enjoy them when he was younger. I think he is self-conscious to be in a pool full of women, even if most of them are middle aged to old age.

I don't really know if DH or DD will use the membership or not. DD says she will to use the pool, but she is never able to get up, so I don't see it really happening unless she changes her sleeping schedule. I'm not going to drive there twice a day. It is a bad traffic situation later in the day and hard to get in and out.

I think I am going to have to accelerate savings for the computer fund. My computer keeps restarting itself. Every day, sometimes twice a day and it is getting super annoying. It keeps saying my computer has an error and has to shut down. Ugh. I am going to try a few things to see if I can't find the error, but it may not be salvageable.

This computer has quite a few things wrong with it that they never seemed to be able to fix 100% and now it no longer has a service contract, so I just can't see throwing money at it when I can throw money at a new one. I am not sure I will get a laptop this time, though. I think I may just get a desktop instead. We'll see. With my current phone, I don't really need a laptop to take with me anymore. I only write at home these days.

Although I do like taking the laptop into the bathroom while I am taking a long bath and playing a movie, so there's that. I guess I'll figure that out once I have the money saved up. I want to save instead of 18 months same as cash, but will do that if this thing goes belly up before the money is ready.

$3516.95 Balance Forward
+___2.58 C1-360
+___1.30 CU #1
-----------
$3520.83 New Balance

I need to go to Winco and pick up a bag of oats for the rabbits. The feed stores have been getting corn in their oats the last several times we have gotten them and the rabbits can't eat corn. It has been a real pain in the butt to deal with. So I am hoping that oats from Winco will be clean. Since they are for human consumption there is better quality control. It's a little more expensive this way, but I'd rather that than risk killing my rabbits.

I've been on the Enbrel for a few days now and I continue to improve. The swelling in my legs has gone way down. It used to be a constant. A large part of my pain is gone throughout the day, though by evening I do have some that comes back. It is not as bad as before, though. I get a little queasy in the mornings, but haven't thrown up after the first morning post injection, and it seems a little less each day. I am starting to feel like a semi-functional human being.

I still haven't quite shaken this cold, but I am getting there. I'm able to do all my indoor chores again. I haven't tried to do my outdoor stuff yet. Seasonal allergies have piled on top of it, though, so there is just a lot of nose blowing going on still. I didn't sleep very well last night or the night before, which doesn't help with getting better. I keep waking up too early. I've tried going to bed earlier to compensate, but then I just lay there not sleeping until the normal time I fall asleep. Very exhausting.

I am looking forward to payday as we will be able to make some more progress on the loan. I'm not sure I'll be able to pay as much as I was hoping. We've got a couple things that have come up that need to be taken care of. Isn't that always the way? I'll still be able to make an extra payment, though.

I had to spend DH for milk and ice. He spent $7.99. Yes, I know I can make my own ice. I don't. It's one of the luxuries I allow, since I have trouble cracking ice cube trays with my RA.

Speaking of my RA, I started Enbrel last night. It's a pen type injector. I was really nervous, but it was simple. It hurt a little when the needle went in, but far less than a regular shot. The medicine itself did not hurt.

It's not supposed to take effect for a month, but some people have had it take effect immediately. I think I am one of those people, because I slept all night on one side. Usually I wake up a couple times a night to switch sides because of the pain. I'm not saying I am pain free, because I am not, but it was easier to get out of bed this morning than any time in recent memory.

I did have one side effect, though. I threw up this morning out of nowhere. I was perfectly fine, then ate a string cheese, and 30 seconds later got all the signs I was going to throw up and then did. There was a lot of bile, but fortunately I had drunk a lot of water, so it wasn't as nasty as it could have been. Vomiting is a side effect of the drug, as it has been with almost every RA drug I have tried. However, I've been fine the rest of the day.

Also I had more energy today than I have had in ages. I am still a little sick, but I had enough energy to do two loads of dishes and 4 loads of laundry. I have not had the energy to do that since I was on steroids for that really bad sinus infection. I also made dinner, including slicing an onion. Some days I can't cut things up. This was not one of those days.

So I am cautiously optimistic. We will see. Even if I still hurt, if I am not tired all the time that will be a drastic improvement. I am used to living in pain. Having the energy to get through a day is worth more to me than being pain free. But hopefully that pain will get better each day with this drug. And I won't get any of the scary bad side effects.

I bought my onion plants today. They should arrive the week of 4/8. I bought 3 bunches of candy sweet onions (it was cheaper to get 3 than 2), 1 batch of redwing red storage onions, and 1 batch of Patterson yellow storage onions. Each batch contains 50 to 60 plants. This should be enough onions for the year. I have had really good luck with storage onions. I have bought the candy sweets the last couple of years and they last a long time, at least six months, at which point I've used them all up, generally. At least what I didn't freeze. So I thought I'd grow them this year. They are my all time favorite onion.

But sometimes you don't want a sweet onion. I like red onions on salads. The kind I got two years ago, the Wethersfield reds did not perform well. At all. So I am trying another long term red storage onion. They are a smaller onion, but I have a hard time getting through regular sized red onions before they go bad as I am the only one who eats them and you can only eat so many slivers on a salad before you start sneezing your head off.

I usually get copra keeping onions for the yellow non-sweet onion, but they are always so small, so I thought I'd try the Pattersons this year and see how they are. They look bigger from the photos. The copras have lasted as long as a year, with just a few sprouting. I hope the Pattersons do as well. All told I paid $83.05 with shipping and taxes. Not bad for a year's supply of onions. Some of them I will grow just to the scallions size as we use a lot of those, too.

I think they are all hybrids, though, so if I save seed it might not be true, but you never know. I find planting onions from seed to be tedious, though, and I feel the plants do way better than the seeds or the bulbs.

I need to get out in the garden and weed a couple beds, though, so I have them ready for when the onions arrive. I need to go slowly and not do too much at once, but I think I can do about 8 x 2 feet a day without stressing my body too much.

As I have stated before, I am keeping it pretty easy this year. Two tomato plants, 8 peppers, lettuce, spinach, radishes, scallions, onions, kohlrabi, broccoli, zucchini, a yet to be determined form of winter squash, and herbs. Possibly cauliflower for Mom and maybe a few carrots, though I don't have much luck with them. I want to do cabbage, but it takes up a lot of space, so I don't know if I will, and they are so cheap at the store, even for the organic ones, it really isn't worth it. Mom will be planting potatoes, corn, and green beans, enough for both of us is the plan.

I was just given several t-shirts, tank tops, and one long-sleeved shirt by someone who has gotten too heavy for them. They are younger than me, so I call them hand me ups instead of hand me downs. I was just saying I needed to buy a couple of t-shirts to get me through until I am in the next size down, but now I don't have to. They are all in great condition, too. I like it when life works out like that.

The only one that might not work for me is a yellow tank top. I don't wear yellow well. But I guess I can use it around the house or in the garden where I won't be out in public. Now all I need to buy for myself is a cardigan and some socks.

So far I have kept the weight off that I lost while super sick. I am still sick, can't seem to shake the runny nose and throat cough from post nasal drip, but I am pretty functional. I am going to go ahead and go to the doctor this week, though. I think my flu may have turned into a sinus infection and that is why I can't seem to beat it.

My legs swelled up after my second day of grocery shopping, but what is really great is that they did not swell like they used to when I was eating the food with the nitrites and nitrates. Of course I have also lost nearly 18 pounds, so maybe it was all in my calves? No, most of it is in my stomach that I have lost, but maybe it still helps me to swell up less. I never felt like my skin was going to burst like a sausage. My ankle and knee joints hurt all day yesterday, but are somewhat better today.

I get my first enbrel delivery on Tuesday. I am hoping that will make a big improvement in my RA symptoms. It takes about a month of use to see a difference, though, they say. I'll be taking it in addition to my hydroxychloroquine. I'm not thrilled about the long term possible side effects of enbrel, but if it does help with the pain and inflammation, then I guess I can worry about those later. I'm 49. It's not like I'm going to live forever anyway.

So I am going to start at least putting the change into the EF again. I made a deposit today of $15.50 in rolled coin. I am not really saving for the EF right now while we pay off that last debt, but I think if there is any extra money left in the envelopes when it is time to refund them, I will go ahead and sweep that money into the EF. It's not much, but it feels like something.

$3501.45 Balance Forward
+__15.50 Amount Added
-----------------
$3516.95 New Balance

My next mini-goal for the EF is $4000, so I have $483.05 to go to hit that.

I need to get back in the habit of doing these again. I had a little bit more money go out than was in the paycheck, but was in the checking account. The actual amount of pay for the two week period is $3274.62. It is quite a substantial raise.

$327.46 Tithe
_400.00 Grocery Envelope
_300.00 Medical Fund
__75.00 Household Envelope
_441.41 Automatic Payments
__61.74 Life Insurance DH
__60.46 Life Insurance Me
_100.00 Blow Money Adults
_800.00 Monster Mom Loan
__95.00 Allowances Kids
_100.00 Holiday Fund
_523.67 Citi Visa
-------------
3284.74 Total Money Out

So for the previous pay period the amount was 2687.71, but we also had the tax refund of $1349.00, so I combined those together for the budget and the total was $4036.71. I messed up the tithe by a couple of dollars but rectified that in the 3/22 budget.

$401.70 Tithe
_400.00 Utilities to Mom
_400.00 Grocery Envelope
_300.00 Medical Fund
__75.00 Household Envelope
_280.00 Chiropractor Family Plan
_108.91 Internet
__74.54 Garbage (We had extra pick ups and it's a 2 month bill)
_567.14 Car Insurance
__50.00 Car Maintenance Envelope
_100.00 Gas Money
__90.00 Allowance DS
_200.00 Clothing Envelope
_100.00 Laptop Fund
_500.00 Monster Mom Loan
-------------
4036.71 Total Money Out

And yes, I do save money each month for car insurance, but I just left that in savings, because it was easier to pay it out of the income tax refund than to wait three days for it transfer between banks. It can be part of the EF now.

The paycheck hit the account early. Usually it isn't in there until eight a.m. So I went ahead and did the budget for the end of March (and what I didn't do out of last time's paycheck because I was sick) and then closed out the budget for the month. After that, since this paycheck did have the new amount with the raise on it, I changed my budget template to account for the increased money and then I set up the April budget.

So it looks like we will have $1177.54 more in each paycheck. Now some of that will go to increasing the tithe amount to keep it at 10%, but the rest is all going to be thrown at the monster mom loan. If we are careful, I should be able to make payments of $700 the first payday of each month and $1300 the second payday of each month. At least barring any unforeseen circumstances.

I would have actually been able to make a $1000 payment this time, but I doubled the clothing budget as DH ripped out yet another pair of pants. He does this by getting down on one knee and then stretching forward to pick something up. I tell him not to do it, but he keeps doing it. And it always rips outside the seam so it can't be repaired. So he needs to get a couple of pairs of pants, DD needs a new cardigan (she gets called so easily even when it is warm out), I need a new cardigan and possibly a couple t-shirts. I need to go through my closet to be sure, but I think I need at least two.

I paid off the credit card (which I do monthly), but it was high this time because of all the take out while I was super ill. So if not for that I would have been able to make a $1300 loan payment this payday.

I am feeling a lot better. I still have a runny nose and a cough, but I have been able to sit up all day for 2 days running, and I was able to make dinner three days in a row now, so there should not be anymore take out, except for the weekly meal that MIL pays for if we choose to have it.

I am still not super hungry. The flu really killed my appetite. I've lost 17.4 pounds total since the 6th. Not on purpose, but I'll take it. I am up to one meal and one snack a day, but will try to get up to one meal and two snacks tomorrow. But eating is still a chore. But I really need to make sure I am eating at least 1200 calories.

I went grocery shopping today. Just one store and I used up the rest of last payday's grocery budget. I will do more shopping tomorrow with the new grocery budget. I figured it would be easier on me to just do one store today and one store tomorrow, than try to do two or more stores in one day. I don't have the stamina for it. I did make it through the shopping without having to use my inhaler, so I've vastly improved since the last shopping trip.

So at Haggen I spent $192.43 and bought:

Aspargus
Green cabbage
Scarlet carrots
Daikon
Red grapes
Oranges
Green bell pepper
Red bell pepper
Strawberries
2 beef chuck roasts
3 family sized packages of sirloin steaks
1 pork shoulder roast
1 package chorizo sausage
1 sliced ham chub
1 sliced turkey chub
Popcorn
1 loaf of Naked bread
1 package of Naked hamburger buns
4 jars of Classico Alfredo sauce
4 jars of Miracle Whip

The last two items were on super good sales, but you had to buy 4 to get the sale price. That's okay, though. The MW will last us until the next big sale and at $2.99 it was half price. The Alfredo sauce I use at least twice a month for Chicken Fettucine Alfredo and at least twice a month for the kids' pizzas (DD can't eat tomato sauce anymore). I make them a chicken parmesan bacon pizza with Alfredo sauce. It's honestly just like the one from Pizza Hut only no tomatoes. The kids say it is actually better. Probably because I cook my crust to crispy, unlike PH.

I still have to make up a meal plan for next week. I will be making pizzas tomorrow, burgers and jo-jos on Saturday, and pot roast on Sunday. I'll work on next week's meal plan after I've finished all the grocery shopping.

$21,000.00 Balance Forward
-__,800.00 Payment Made
-------------
$20,200.00 New Balance

Next payday that first digit will be a 1. So close I can taste it.

I forgot to post that I made a loan payment to the monster mom loan from the last paycheck.

$21,500.00 Balance Forward
-__,500.00 Payment Made
-------------
$21,000.00 New Balance

Friday should be the first payday with the raise on it, assuming no one screwed up in payroll. Then I should be able to start making some serious headway on knocking out this loan.

The last time I posted was on the 6th. 13 days later and I am still sick, though on the upswing. This thing has kicked my butt so hard. I've lost 15 pounds on the too sick to eat diet. The first week I was sleeping about 22 hours a day. Then days 8 through 10 I was sleeping about 18 hours a day. Now I am sleeping about 15 hours a day. I've been able to sit upright for a couple hours a day for the last 3 days. I still have a cough, but it is in my throat and that stupid runny nose this whole time.

I am trying to eat now, but it is still a lot of work. I am trying to get in at least one meal a day, but I am just not that interested in food. Eating should not be such a chore. This illness is worse than the one in October that threw me down so hard. I do see the light at the end of the tunnel, but I wish I wasn't just so exhausted. It's viral so there is nothing I can do but treat the symptoms.

It has been really nice outside the last two days, in the high 60's, and I would love to be able to get out into the garden, but even folding a basket of towels winds me. Getting my hands in the dirt always makes me feel recharged, but I think I have to have at least a quarter of a charge in the first place, so it will have to wait.

It is hard to believe a little over a week ago we had snow. There is pollen all over the car windows. The purple crocus have been up for about four days and today I saw my first yellow hyacinth. I see the tulip leaves pushing their way out of the soil, too.

I managed to get all the bills paid two days ago when I could think enough to write out checks. The day before that DH took me to the grocery store, but I had to use my inhaler halfway through. Normally I wouldn't have gone, but we were out of so many things and DH doesn't shop well on his own. He comes back with things we don't need and that are junky. We only did the one store, because I had no stamina.

We have been getting a lot of take out. I guess it was good that we had the tax return to spend. I just haven't been able to cook much at all. I hate that we spent all that money on it, but so be it. Sometimes you have to do what you have to do.

What has been really nice during this time is that I have not had an RA flare up. Usually when I get sick I have one, but I guess my body decided it was only going to deal with one thing at a time this time around. It may be just a coincidence, but I also stopped eating a food that had nitrites and nitrates in it when I got sick and haven't had swelling symptoms at all since. I am too afraid to try that food and test it out, because I really don't want to swell and be in pain. It's not worth the chance.

So that's why I've been so quiet. I really wasn't on the computer much, other than I had audio stories playing when I was awake. I was too sick to watch anything and too sick to read, but listening to stories I could handle. I do bless all the people on youtube who tell stories, especially the ones who do voices and add music and make it interesting. Hopefully as I get stronger, I can get back to my normal life again.

I'd say bah humbug, but that seems particularly a Christmas season thing, although quite frankly it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas in this winter not so wonderland. It's not snowing as hard as last time yet, but it is sticking and there is about an inch and a half and no sign of stopping.

Most of the last batch of snow had melted a couple of days ago except for the huge piles that were plowed in grocery store parking lots. Now it starts all over again. I really dislike snow. I am not one of those people that looks out the window and thinks oh, how pretty. No, I am one of those people who looks out the window and says, crud (or something slightly, but not significantly, stronger), this is going to be a pain in the butt.

DH has been home sick for the past two days and even my mom is sick. Those two never get sick. I'm glad DH has sick time accrued and that things are not particularly hectic at work right now. The rest of us are sick, too. I had two days of feeling better and then went right into this runny nose thing with a voice that sounds like James Earl Jones is using me as a ventriloquist's puppet. I don't feel like death, I just sound like it. I think I am actually the least sick of everyone today.

I am more than ready for spring, but I don't think spring is ready for Washington state. Getting snow in March is a rarity, but we have gotten it as late as early April twice in my lifetime. I am so done with this. I want spring and I want it now, please and thank you.

We can't pick up the truck until tomorrow. All the work was done, but then a recalled part came in so they asked if they could keep it and do it in the morning so that we don't have to bring it in again. I just hope the snow isn't so bad tomorrow that we can't retrieve it.

We just got a notice on a recall for our 2011 Toyota Sienna on the propellant for the airbag, so we are going to have that done when we get the oil change for the van as well. Might as well do both at the same time. Apparently when the propellant gets old it can explode on impact and shoot metal fragments out through the air bag, causing injury and death. So apparently this has happened. Yikes. Weather permitting, we'll get this done next week.

I don't like being housebound. With DH having to drive the van, I have no way of going and doing anything and it is a little frustrating. I need to get my glasses adjusted because I fell asleep with them on again and rolled over on my face, I need to go cash some checks at the bank, and I need to make some doctor appointments, but I can't do any of that until the truck is fixed. It is going in on Wednesday, but I don't know if it will be a one day repair or take a couple. I hope it is only one day, because I want my mobility back.

We've only been a two car family for less than a year and a half after many years of only having one and already I have forgotten what that was like. I feel like I'm being a baby about it, having a case of I want, I want, I want. It really does curtail your freedom, though. If I weren't disabled, I could walk to a lot of places, but even walking the two blocks to the bus stop is difficult right now. Actually the walking isn't the problem so much as the standing and waiting. Moving isn't nearly as bad.

Back before my injuries and my rheumatoid arthritis, I could have walked the two miles to the doctor's office, even when sick. Now even walking the six blocks to the store is out of reach. Maybe it is just that not having the van right now is piling on top of my not being able to do much with my body.

I am going to have to cut down on my gardening this year. Even with two foot tall raised beds and the ability to pull up a chair to garden, it was hard in 2018 and I think it will be harder this year. Maybe I'll just grow peppers, tomatoes, salad fixings, and onions. Those give me the biggest bang for the buck without a ton of effort throughout the season and the least worry about pests. And of course the herbs, which come back every year. I am just going to have to realize that my limitations are getting stronger as I age and adjust my life accordingly.

I am considering getting a mobility scooter or an electric trike bike. Then I could at least go to the store. I would only need the electric motor on the trike bike on the way home as it is downhill all the way to the store. But perhaps the mobility scooter is the way to go. It would be nice to be able to go out in the neighborhood again when the weather gets better. They are pricey though. Even the used ones. We'll have to see.

I didn't fall asleep last night until around 3 a.m. Ugh. But I cleaned the fridge since I was so awake. And I was very pleased that I didn't have to throw anything out. I have been focusing on getting leftovers used up to reduce our food waste and it seems to be paying off. I do have all the leftovers sitting on one shelf, though, so that they are easy to be aware of and don't get shoved to the back of the fridge.

Between this and eating down the freezer, I have been able to not spend the entire grocery budget for the last two paydays. Admittedly, there are still 5 days left until the next payday, but I think there will still be a little left. I'm not talking a ton. The first payday it was only $15, but usually I spend right up to the line. This time it looks like it will be closer to $50. It would be more, but we are out of ketchup and since they are on sale I am going to stock up and get 3. DH eats a lot of ketchup.

So far I have not decided what to do with any extra money. Maybe just throw it in a jar to save up for a side of beef. That way it is still going towards food.

I have still been working away at using up the food in the inside freezers and planning my meals around that. I still have lots of frozen zucchini that I am working my way through and lots of packages of sausage so I will incorporate that into one meal this week. I do throw a handful of the zucchini into my baked omelet a few times a week for breakfast.

I am working my way through all the ground turkey as well, so there will be a couple of meals using that this week. I actually used some in Saturday's spaghetti, too. I think after this week I will have used up all the ground turkey, which has been in the freezer at least 3 months and it doesn't seem to last as long in the freezer as beef or pork.

Sunday:
Beef pot roast
Mashed potatoes and gravy
Leftover Normandy vegetables

Tuesday:
Turkey Tacos
Pico de gallo

Wednesday:
Turkey/Beef Meatloaf
Leftover mashed potatoes and gravy
Green Beans

Thursday:
Chicken Fajitas
Salad

Friday:
Penné Pasta with Zucchini and Sausage

Saturday:
Homemade Pizza
Homemade pull apart bread

So DH was out at MIL's on Friday helping her with some banking stuff in her city and he spent a bunch of time out there talking to her. I guess he brought up all the stuff we are going to have to do with the truck and MIL offered to pay for it. She said that FIL had been planning to have all that stuff done and just not ever gotten around to it. I guess she felt bad because we inherited a truck that has turned out to have all these issues.

So she says she wants to pay for not only all the things that have to get done when DH takes it in next week, but to have the paint issue fixed as well. Which means we actually get to use our tax refund for something else and not truck repairs.

MIL doesn't have to worry about money at all anymore and she has been so generous to us. This is why I want to work so hard to get us out of debt and on our way to financial security. So we don't have to worry in the future and can afford to be generous in our old age.

I am feeling a little better now. I came down with a virus that had me throwing up for two days straight, which was probably why I was dragging so hard this week. Everything has stayed down today, though, and I'm not nearly as exhausted. Still tired, but normal tired. Which for me is still probably more tired than 80% of the population, but any improvement is better than none. Tomorrow I might even be able to eat a vegetable.

Wow, that was the fastest we've ever gotten back our tax refund. We sent it in on the 15th at 2 a.m. and it was deposited into our account yesterday, so 12 days. We got back $1349, but as I stated last night, most of that is going to be eaten up with truck repairs. At least $1000 of it. On the bright side, we won't have to shuffle money around from the EF and then reimburse it since it is now sitting in the checking account.

I still feel cruddy today. I really wish this would stop. It took me until 12:30 to get out of bed today. I don't have the stamina to cook dinner so we are getting take away.

Since MIL is buying fast food for herself and SIL almost every day of the week, she has said we can get one meal out for the family every week for us on her. So this will be that meal. We may not take her up on it every week, but it nice to have that as an option on a week where I feel so icky.

I should have posted this the other day, but I have been dragging and the extent of my online activity has been on the level of watching videos of a cat singing the Game of Thrones theme song on youtube or the like. Yeah, that's where my intellectual capacity has been at. So not a lot of brain power going on.

Anyway, the raise for DH is official and all of the paperwork has now been signed. It won't be on the next paycheck, but will be on the last one of March. He's officially told the other place he won't be working for them.

On the bad side, the alternator is going out in the truck so we are going to have to get that fixed to the tune of around $600. I have $250 in the car maintenance fund. They had said it was going at the oil change DH had last week and today when DH pulled in the driveway it was really straining. Hopefully we can get it to the dealership without having to call a tow truck.

They made it sound like it would probably last six months, but we don't think so after today. It also needs the air filter, the cabin filter, the spark plugs, and the brake fluid replaced and we have decided to do all of that. So we will dip into the EF for this for the rest of the money. I had been planning to use the tax refund when it came, but I don't think it will be here in time now. But we will reimburse the EF when the tax refund comes. Sadly, it will probably use up the entire tax refund. But at least we will break even.

I will start saving $100 a month instead of $50 a month to the car maintenance fund for the next two months, just to build that back up again. Or maybe keep it at that level. The truck is a 2007 and there may be some other issues coming up. A belt or a fuel pump or something, though as of now those things are fine according to the mechanic.

I worry less about the van. It is a 2011 and we haven't hit 45,000 miles on it yet, but it will be needing an oil change shortly and I would like to eventually get the dent pulled out that DH put in it a couple years ago.

$22,000 Balance Forward
-__,500 Payment Amount
-----------
$21,500 New Balance

Why do they have to put soy in everything? I mean, they are putting it in things like ice cream now. Even Alden's Organic Ice Cream has soy lecithin. When I pay that much for ice cream, I want it to be real ice cream. They are putting it in french fries. I am glad I found a french fry slicer at Value Village (thrift store) the last time I was there. I'll be making our fries from now on since both the store brand and the Ore Ida brand have soy.

It is in almost every convenience food. I am just so happy that the TJ's fish nuggets don't have soy. But a lot of TJ's food does, so I have to very carefully read the labels even there now. I think their fries are clean, but they are expensive and you don't get a lot. It's much cheaper to buy the 5 lb bags of russets and make my own. As long as I have DS's manpower to push them through the little machine.

It is frustrating to deal with an allergy in a grocery climate that seems to have gone soy mad. Products that were previously safe, like Lay's plain potato chips, now have soybean oil. It used to be sunflower or safflower oil. And yes, we don't need potato chips, but sometimes you just want to snack on a chip and I do get sick of it just being tortilla chips.

Nearly every bread has soybean oil in it. We have found Naked bread and Dave's bread which are clean of it, and of course I make our own bread often, but some days I just can't knead dough due to my RA. There's a lot I can't do on a daily basis anymore because of my RA. Crackers are ridiculous. And yes, I can make those, too, but some days I can't roll dough and I just want something for my soup.

I do cook 90% of stuff from scratch, but I like my 10% of processed foods for those days I can't, and it is looking more and more like it will have to be 98% if we are avoiding soy. Plus DD can't eat eggs, which is not quite as hard to avoid, but it does put a limit on what I can bake that she can eat, too.

Does anyone have a good waffle or pancake recipe (or both) that doesn't have eggs in it? And that actually tastes good without anything on it. Because I have made some that are virtually tasteless without egg. I don't want to have to dump a ton of sugar in the batter, although that may be the way I have to go.

The reimbursement check for DH's jaunt to the other office finally came through today. It was supposed to only take one week. It took over two. The bill is due in two days. I have not been happy with this and told him in no uncertain terms that if they send him off like that again, there is no way he is using our credit card for it.

They have company credit cards for exactly this sort of thing. I don't care how much easier it was to use ours, if they want him to go again, they give him one of theirs. They would have if it hadn't been so last minute and they still could have, it would have just been more effort on their part. DH has agreed.

DH's raise has been approved as of his last text message to me, but he is still waiting on the paperwork to sign. I told him to double check before he signs anything that it is the amount it is supposed to be and not some lesser amount. While this job has given us no reason to doubt them, there have been other companies that have pulled fast ones and said one thing but the paperwork did not match. Not on wages, but on length of contract. I trust no one in these situations until it is in writing.

I hope it gets signed soon. I don't want this to remain unsettled. He does need to give the other place a decent amount of time to try to find someone else, being as the job was supposed to start in 4 weeks. We don't want him to burn bridges by waiting until the last minute. Even if the way he was initially treated by that company was very sketchy, it was one employee, and they turned out to be a decent employer for the short time he was with them.

DH got the taxes done and submitted and we will be getting back a little over $1300. I don't know the exact amount since Dh did the final bit. We did do deductions because it meant a slightly higher return, but this will probably be the last year we have such major medical expenses as to put us high enough to do that with the new taxing structure. If DH gets the raise to stay here, we will be upping our 401K percentage to 7% so that our higher tax bracket will not mess things up for next year. I don't want to end up paying ever. I'd rather just a small refund.

I do have my total out of pocket medical expenses for last year and it is $28,248.75. I believe that is more than in 2017. If things go the way they are looking our medical spending should be greatly reduced this year. Our charitable giving (tithing) was only $5800, but we didn't start doing that until about mid-year, when DH got hired on permanently instead of through the temp company.

So DH's work is just waiting on a signature or two to get him that raise if they want to keep him here. If they do get it, it will be a raise in net income of $15,700 a year. It is not as much as up there is offering, but after air fare and having to pay Cobra for two months, the difference would only be $3000 to $4000, because a lot more would be lost to taxes from being in a higher tax bracket. That is an awfully big change in our lives for only $3 to $4K. Without the raise it is worth it. With it? Not so much. The second year it would be $6K extra because it would be without the Cobra.

Current job has better insurance and better 401K matching, which makes the trade off for up there less appealing. I am hoping they come through for him. They need to do it soon though as DH would need to make the decision and let them know up there if he's not coming so they can get someone else in place.

Current job implied they are planning to move him up into a better position when someone retires in December, also. So...there is potential for advancement, which there never was up there. And with that movement would come another raise, it is assumed, since there would be more responsibilities and a change in title.

With the raise it would take us 13 months to pay off the loan and we could still get our gym membership back. Then it would take us 8 months after that to get our 3 months expenses emergency fund. After that I want to take a small break and go on a vacation with my husband, no kids. We would take one month's worth of what we would have been putting into the EF and go on a short cruise, 3 to 4 days, booking last minute for a deal. We can plan our time for when work is at a lull. We don't care to where as long as it is on the west coast out of Seattle. We likely won't even leave the ship. It has been 8 years since we have been on a vacation and we've never been on a cruise.

Then we would start saving towards the 6 months emergency fund and a down payment on a house at the same time, with an uptick in our 401K percentage.

But until there is signed paperwork in his hands, there is no decision to be made and all of the above is simple dreaming. Except the taxes part.

I am still not back to normal after our trip to Seattle for DD's operation. It has been a week since we got back. I am still in pain, still have a massive amount of inflammation, am dragging like a person who never gets any sleep even though I am getting sleep, and am stuffy. I hate it when my RA flares up like this. I've made the decision to not go with DH and DD when they go for the surgery follow-up appointment. My body just cannot take these long car trips, although it may have been the hotel bed that made it the worst.

I don't know if they will have the biopsy results then or not, but I hope they will. Except for that one spot, things looked good. If there is nothing wrong from the biopsy, I guess we are back to square one. I want to get her tested for Von Willebrand disease. This is secondary to whatever else is going on, but she is getting daily nosebleeds two to three times a day that take a long time to stop and they are coming from high up in the nasal cavity. Along with the other bleeding problems she has had in the past, it would make sense if she has this, including when there was blood in the bladder for no discernable cause. We had her tested for a couple of other bleeding disorders before, but not this one.

So just as a recap, what's been diagnosed so far:

Hypothyroidism
Secondary Adrenal Insufficiency
Gasteropaeresis
Granuloma Anularae (autoimmune)
Some unspecified autoimmune disease they haven't tracked down yet (not RA, MS, or Lupus)
Neuropathy
Migraines

I am suspicious that she may have fibromyalgia, although I kind of feel like that is what they call something when they can't find out what it really is, because she has all the symptoms of it. And from what I can see, the treatments tend to be pot, muscle relaxants, and anti-depressants. She can't take anti-depressants because of the gasteroparesis (they make her puke and flare constantly) and she doesn't want to take pot, which we are legal for here in my state, but I don't want her taking it either. She's already on a muscle relaxant and it doesn't do much.

She does have autoimmune markers in her lab work, they just don't know what it is. And it is not the granuloma anularae causing those markers. It's probably something impossibly rare.

She also, of course, has never been the same since the skull fracture and broken tailbone when she fell in the creek when she was 16. Lots of brain fog and issues with reading and doing math even six years later. I still marvel at the fact that she graduated high school.

I just want us to find a way to make her pain better, so that she can function with some quality of life. But for that to happen it seems like we have to find the thing they can't seem to find.

At least since the gasteroparesis has been more and more under control, she is more positive and happy. I guess not puking on a daily basis will do that to a person. Also her hair has stopped falling out since getting that under control, so there's that. And she's no longer anemic, though she is only just above the line.

As for me, I'm still waiting on the Enbrel. The doctor and the pharmacy need to get stuff straightened out, but I have the co-pay card, so at least when they do, it will go forward. If I haven't heard anything by Monday I will call the doctor's office and try to push things along.

I also want the doctor to do a blood test for my cortisol levels and to check my thyroid. I think something is going on there, especially with cortisol. I felt so much better on the steroids, like a normal human. Of course, I could hardly sleep, but I was amped up enough it didn't matter. My reaction to them is what makes me think my cortisone is messed up. While I'm at it, I should schedule a mammogram, too. Maybe in another week I'll feel good enough to get on that.

DH's current job has offered him more money and a more secure position to stay. He'll have to run the numbers tonight when he gets home from work. It isn't as much pay as what the other job is offering, but current job matches 5% in the 401K, not just 3%, has a Christmas cash bonus, a Christmas 401K bonus contribution, company stock, and the insurance is better. Plus he'd be home. This just got interesting.

There's 18 inches of snow on the ground, and it is still snowing, but less consistently, which means that if I want a birthday cake I am going to have to bake it myself and I'm sort of the mindset of, well, ehh. Maybe peanut butter cookies as they are easy and I am already making bread. DH has been able to get out to go to work, but not many are able to get in. Some of the stores are closed, so even if I sent him for a cake, the stores might not even be open and I don't want him driving more than he has to right now.

Of course, this means we have spent no money since Sunday. Not that I planned to buy much, but I did want to get a new electric skillet and have the money in the household envelope for it. Those things really don't last long and the last one we got I was never fond of anyway, as it made a weird noise the whole time it was on. But now the coating is all scratched up. I have no idea how as we only ever use wooden or silicon cooking utensils in it.

I'm actually just thinking of getting one of those induction cook tops so that I could just use my cast iron pans or stainless steel on it and be done with this non-stick nonsense altogether. It costs twice as much as a skillet and I'd have to wait until the 22nd to order it when I put more money in the household envelope, but we've gone without for two weeks now, we can go another two, plus time for shipping. I've been considering doing this a long while. Since we just bought TP, body wash, and shampoo and conditioner, there isn't anything else I will be needing the household category for next payday except maybe tissues, so there will be plenty of money in there then.

Maybe I'll make cupcakes. I can do those in the Nuwave. Or maybe I'll just be happy with my bread and pick up a discounted Valentine's day cake the day after instead. They are always half price then. Or skip it altogether.

I'm not really that into it this year. I'm 49. Next year is more of a milestone. Although I did have one milestone of sorts, DH and I both did. They gave us the senior discount at the hospital cafeteria. DH is balding and grey and I haven't colored my hair for the last year or so, so my grey streaks at the front temples of my hair are quite visible (they used to be ash blonde streaks in a sea of auburn when I was younger). I didn't notice until I was looking at the receipt. So that was the first time we've been given a senior discount. Maybe I can order off the IHOP's senior menu now. They always have way too much food in the regular part, so I usually give DH half my pancakes and he orders accordingly. Not that we go there much anymore at all.

Sorry, this is so stream of consciousness today. Nothing much better to do while I wait for the bread to rise.

...to paraphrase one of my favorite songs from the 80's. The snow started around 3:00 this afternoon and we already have six inches. It's supposed to snow non-stop for the next few days, too. DH and I were out doing our grocery shop. We went to five stores, but the second to last one had closed early due to the weather. We only missed it by about a half an hour, but fortunately that was Whole Foods, which was just a want, not a need, run for sopprasetta.

Usually I will spread out the shopping over a couple of days, but not when the weather is only going to get worse. So here's what I bought at Safeway:

1 Pepsi Throwback (sugar kind, and bad)
2 Pirates Booty
1 Tostitos Lime
2 Classico Alfredo Sauce
2 packages O Organics Popcorn
2 1/2 gallons of O Organics Milk
1 bag of spinach
2 limes
1 box organic blackberries
1 organic red onion
4 organic roma tomatoes
1 lb deli roast beef
1 lb deli roast chicken

I spent $64.86 there. Next we went to Costco and I got:

1 box shredded parmesan cheese
2 4 packs frozen broccoli
1 bag of six bell peppers
1 box of Kodiak Power Waffles
1 bag of sausage patties
1 2 pack of shredded sharp cheddar cheese
2 packages of Yangtze pork
1 4 pack Kerrygold Irish butter
2 24 packs of organic eggs
2 3 packs of organic chicken sausage links
1 bag of peeled garlic
1 2 pack of prosciutto

I spent $172.99 there. Our next stop was the food co-op. We were looking for tortillas without soy in them, but there's had soybean oil so I only ended up buying:

1 head of organic lettuce

I spent $2.99. Next we went to Trader Joe's and I bought:

3 5 lb bags of Russet potatoes
2 packages of uncured beef hot dogs
4 packages of flour tortillas (no soy!)
2 containers of sunflower oil
1 box pita crackers (no soy!)
1 box rosemary crackers (no soy!)

I spent $43.97 there. So total grocery spending was $284.81, well under my $400 two week grocery budget.

We did pickup some household items as well. At Safeway we got 2 bottles of body wash for DH for $6.51. At Costco we picked up a case of toilet paper and 2 4 packs of Zyrtec for $98.99 for a total of $105.50. TP and body wash came out of the Household Envelope and Zyrtec came out of the Medical Fund Account.

Now I shouldn't have to budge from the house until the Snowpocalypse is over.

DH took a new job today. It's back on the slope. After taxes and after airfare, we'd be bringing home $30K more a year. Yes, that's net. The 401K is not as good a match (but we'll contribute 7% instead of 5% to make up for it) and the insurance costs more (but pretax), but the difference in income more than makes up for that.

DH and I talked it over for several hours yesterday. His current job is getting iffy, because after the election last year one of the refineries pulled out of a couple of jobs and that means less work for his company. We feared this was going to happen because it does every time democrats get control of either the Senate or the House, and it is even worse when they also have the presidency, which they may again in two years.

I think it is a little ridiculous though, because they don't have control of both, so they'll never pass anything in the next two years, but the oil companies always seem to get fearful when the dems start getting any control. Usually because they raise taxes on the industry, already the highest taxed industry in America AND all developing nations, and try to shut down new exploration the second they get full control and put in all sorts of punitive regulations. They don't want to invest only for it to be shelved in a couple of years and have it taxed so much the project is no longer tenable.

But anyway, because the current job is getting iffy on work, and because this job pays so much more, we decided he would take it. It is a two year contract. We'll be out of debt in a year and have our six month emergency fund in place by the end of the second year and maybe some saved for a down payment.

He starts on March 18th. I told him to at least wait until March before he lets his current work know and I hope he listens to me. I'd really like him to wait until two weeks before to give notice as I don't want to try to go without pay for more than 2 weeks if they decide to let him go early. My hope is he can work right on up to the 15th. We only have $3000 in the EF, so it would be very tight. I am going to go down to a bare bones budget between now and when the new job starts and save as much as I can. We will have to pay for a Cobra for the month of April, but I believe the new insurance should start in May.

The first pay cycle will be larger because he will have 3 days of training on it before he starts his 3 and 3 hitch. I hate 3 and 3 so much as compared to 2 and 2, but it means less airline tickets a year.

It will be hard to go back to this again, but it puts our future back on track. It will be annoying to have to do a 6 week budget cycle instead of a 4 week budget cycle, but I managed before and I can manage again. And it is worth it for the amount we'll be able to speed ahead on our goals.

I just hope that after the two years are over there will be work that is easy to find, hopefully slope work. If not, I guess we'll have the fully funded EF and unemployment again (which is enough to cover insurance premiums, but that's it).